First Flight: The Wright Flyer

The Wright Brothers accomplished the first ever heavier-than-air manned flight when their spindly creation, dubbed the "Wright Flyer", took to the sky in the breezes along the coast at Kittyhawk, North Carolina, December 17th, 1903. With Orville Wright at the controls and his brother Wilbur cheering as he ran alongside, the Wright Flyer lifted off and flew the modest distance of 120 feet in 12 seconds. Two other flights the same day proved that the airplane was not a fluke. Aviation as we know it was born.